Another man influenced by the Indians' call was the
Reverend Samuel Parker, pastor of the Congregational Church in
Middlefield, Mass. Though 54 years of age, married, and the father of
three children, Parker volunteered to the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions to go to the Flathead country. Turned
down by the Board, Parker moved to Ithaca, N.Y. Early in 1834, he spoke
at a special meeting in the Ithaca Presbyterian Church and aroused the
congregation to such a high pitch that it was proposed that Parker go to
Oregon to select mission sites. This time Parker was able to get the
support of the American Board for the undertaking.

Samuel Parker.WHITMAN COLLEGE

Knowing little more about the Pacific Northwest than
its general direction, Parker set out in the spring of 1834; but he and
two companions arrived at St. Louis too late to accompany the
fur-traders' annual caravan to the Rockies. It was risky to undertake
the trip alone, so Parker returned to New York to raise money and
recruits for the next year. In December 1834 he reported to the American
Board that a Dr. Marcus Whitman had volunteered to serve as a medical
missionary.

"I have had an interview with the Rev. Samuel Parker
upon the subject of Missions and have determined to offer myself to
the A. M. Board to accompany him on his mission or
beyond the Rocky Mountains."

Marcus Whitman,Dec. 2, 1834.

In 1835 Parker and his new recruit, Marcus Whitman,
joined the fur-traders' caravan and headed westward. Not until cholera
had broken out and Dr. Whitman's medical skill had prevented disaster in
the caravan did the unholy traders appreciate having the missionaries in
their group. On August 12 the party reached the fur-trading rendezvous,
which was held that year near the junction of Horse Creek and the Green
River in Wyoming. There, once again Whitman was able to display his
medical skill. He successfully removed a 3-inch iron arrowhead from the
back of the famous mountain man, Jim Bridger, under the watchful eyes of
traders, mountain men, and Indians. This exhibition of competence was
not lost on the Nez Percé and Flathead. Parker and Whitman talked
to them and found that they were indeed anxious to have missions.

To get the missions established by the next year,
Whitman decided to return East and organize volunteers for the new
field. Parker was to continue on to Oregon, explore for mission
locations, and meet Whitman's party when it reached the rendezvous the
next summer.

Parker, traveling with the Nez Percé, reached
their homeland on the Clearwater River in present Idaho late in
September. Thence he went down the Columbia River to Fort Vancouver,
where he spent most of the winter with the Hudson's Bay Company traders.
During the winter and the next spring, he made several trips of
exploration in the country between the Clearwater and the Willamette. In
the spring of 1836, he learned that the Nez Percé were returning
to the rendezvous by a northerly, rugged route. Parker, feeling his
years at last, decided to return to the United States by sea. Before the
Indians' departure, he wrote letters for them to carry to the
rendezvous. Although Whitman received these letters, it is doubtful if
they contained any information of value to the 1836 American Board
party. While Parker was at Fort Vancouver, Marcus Whitman, back in New
York, had been busy gathering men and money in order to establish the
missions in the Oregon country.